Access Bank UNICEF Charity Shield polo tourney gets dates

This year’s edition of the Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield polo tournament will hold in Kangimi Resort, Kaduna, from May 25 to June 5.
The tournament, the biggest charity polo event in Africa, will feature 15 teams vying for honours in three categories, according to the organisers.
Fifth Chukker Polo Captain, Babangida Katsina, who unfolded plans for the event, the 10th in the series, said the UNICEF Cup will run from May 25 to 29 and both the Access Bank Cup and High Goal Charity Shield will run from June 1 to 5.
He added: “The future of our children is very bright with this tournament as it has helped in the past to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged and this year will not be an exception.
“We are expecting participating teams from across the country as well as outside, with a team coming from Johannesburg, South Africa.
“All arrangements have been concluded with the teams and players, and some of them have already started sending their horses to Kaduna.”
Three teams each will compete for the Access Bank Cup and the High Goal Charity Shield. Others will compete for the UNICEF Cup.
Access Bank Executive Director (Personal Banking), Victor Etuokwu, pledged that the bank will continue to sponsor the tournament as long it is part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).
His words: “We’ve been in this partnership for 10 years running and we will continue to support UNICEF and Fifth Chukker for the betterment of the lives of internally displaced persons (IDP).
“We will extend our sponsorship to more IDPs to see how we can support in areas of health, education, and sports.
Etuokwu disclosed that some of the projects implemented through the tournament have been yielding results.
“We are really monitoring the projects and I am happy that we are getting positive results from the areas that we’ve touched and this continue to encourage us to do more for the IDPs.”
UNICEF Communication Officer (Advocacy, Media and External Relations), Blessing Ejiofor, said the main purpose of the tournament is to unite children and bring succor to IDPs.
“We are actually using the tournament to create opportunity for children and help them have access to education, health and sports.
“We appreciate the management of Access Bank for the roles it has been playing in the past 10 years, and like Oliver Twist, we will be happy if the bank can increase its sponsorship largess for the tournament.”